Water Environment Research Foundation Expands Research to Further Biogas Production

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WERF selects Kennedy/Jenks to perform research that will further co-digestion.

Alexandria, VA (PRWEB)July 08, 2014

The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) has selected Kennedy/Jenks to perform research as part of a series of new projects on furthering co-digestion. The project entitled Co-Digestion of Organic Waste – Addressing Operational Side Effects (ENER12R13) will help increase the number of utilities performing co-digestion by providing tools that enable them to better understand the implications of co-digestion, and reduce roadblocks and uncertainty associated with the process. A primary benefit of co-digestion is that it uses existing infrastructure and expertise to divert food waste, fats, oils, and grease for the purpose of biogas production.

To achieve the project objectives, the research team will develop an analytical approach to understand and predict the broad array of impacts of co-digestion. This approach will eventually reduce the need for lab and pilot studies and will provide utilities with the appropriate guidance in developing co-digestion plans. The team will also collect data from eight utilities nationwide that are and are not performing co-digestion to develop a model for estimating the side effects of co-digestion. The research will evaluate wastes such as fats, oils, and gas, plus food waste, Greek yogurt wastes, and beverage wastes.

This work will expand upon WERF's current research on Co-Digestion of Organic Waste Products with Wastewater Solids (OWSO5R07).

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The Water Environment Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 1989, is America's leading independent scientific research organization dedicated to wastewater and stormwater issues.